


Yes, yes... This is fate!

by ShimadaGenji



Category: Naruto
Genre: Blood and Injury, First Meetings, Gai is from Iwa, Kakashi’s depressing thoughts, M/M, Rival villages AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 06:27:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23346901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShimadaGenji/pseuds/ShimadaGenji
Summary: Two kids from different villages meet again, and again, and again...Rival Villages AU
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai | Might Guy
Comments: 27
Kudos: 102





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The KKG server know what it did  
> So i wrote my own little thing abt this AU shsjsjshs

Gai diligently woke up with the sun. 

He jumped off his bed and quickly made himself breakfast, rice and eggs. He dressed up in his green jumpsuit and brown chuunin vest, packed up and hurriedly ran past the rocky streets of Iwagakure.

He was given a solo mission to patrol the shallow woods south, beyond the mountains for possible medicinal herbs. He was mocked by the ones handing him the mission.

“They just don’t have anything for a useless shinobi like you.”

Gai of course, had smiled widely at them, fire in his guts.

“Thank you for cheering me on! I’ll prove I’m capable of collecting a hundred herbs for our amazing medics!” And he didn’t let it all get to him.

So yes, maybe lots of people of the village still thought of him as the kid who couldn’t even do ninjutsu properly, and maybe his father didn’t become a hero to many people of the village despite his heroic death.

But he was a hero to Gai. So Gai lived his life in a way to make him proud.

And if that meant doing a thousand filler jobs to prove his worth, then he better get those done as quickly and efficiently as he can.

So he did.

He bolted off the gates with a basket on his back, running uphill and then down, to his destination. He kept the harsh pace even as he climbed up steep rocks and jumped down steeper drops. And he finally stopped when trees started growing from around him. He pulled a little map from his pouch and a little note on medicinal herbs.

He learned their appearance and carefully scanned the grass for each plant.

For several minutes he quietly hummed to himself, feeling joy whenever he managed to recognize and collect a plant. He also decided to walk on his hands, so he could keep his training going while looking closer to the ground.

And the sun was still shying its way up the sky when Gai noticed something amiss.

Well, he  _ felt  _ it more than he noticed, dropping to his feet and whipping his head around curiously.

Something alerted his instincts…

He stood still for a few seconds.

Then he heard it.

In a blink of an eye, several things happened: first, a figure came bursting from a bush, going at full speed towards Gai. Second, Gai jumped up with a Rock Whirlwind, hitting the shinobi on the chest. Third, the shinobi got pushed back, falling back with a grunt. And four, that was definitely a missing nin of Iwa.

Gai quickly jumped back into a fighting stance, feet firmly pressed to the ground and core tight.

The man huffed at him angrily, fist curled around a scroll.

“Out of the way kid, or I’ll gut you.”

One of 3 of the Uchiyama brothers, known mostly for the murder of many merchants and shinobi from Iwa to Suna, going as far as to terrorize even the fire country.

Gai didn’t know what had the man in such a hurry, but he knew it was his duty as a loyal shinobi to stop him from causing any harm. So he didn’t move.

The man snarled at him, bringing forward the blade on his other hand, and dashed.

Gai was faster.

A fist parried the man’s blade while the other punched him right in the guts. He heard the man’s air leave his lungs, eyes going wide in surprise. He raised his other fist up the man’s chin and felt his jaw clenching up painfully with the punch.

Gai spun and his foot met the man’s face, sending him sprawling on the ground. Scroll rolling out his reach.

And the fight was done in seconds.

He took just a tiny moment to appreciate his victory (you should never underestimate an enemy!) and was glad he had already warmed up. He walked up to the man lying unconscious on the floor and grabbed the stray scroll. Gai turned the thing around in curiosity, inspecting the roll of paper.

He didn’t recognize it as any standard scroll. It was green on the outside, and with coded writing on the inside. Writing he didn’t understand, so he turned his head to the way the man had come barreling through and wondered… Why such a rush? And why alone? The three brothers were always reported traveling together. Unless he  _ wasn’t  _ alone.

Gai threw another quick glance to the unconscious man, and hoped he’d remain like that for a little longer, as he shoved the scroll in the basket on his back and quickly darted into the woods.

After many strides through the inclosing trees, Gai found the second brother. This one was already downed, and wouldn’t be getting up, judging by the hole in the man’s chest. Gai let himself shiver at the bloody sight, but carefully approached anyway.

He didn’t seem to be carrying any other strange scrolls, just his weapons and supplies. Gai didn’t dare go through the man’s corpse for a thorough search, there was still one brother left to account for anyway.

Then he heard the sound of chirping. Almost of a mockery of birds singing in a panic.

He followed it (and the trail of stray kunai), dashing through the flora for the source of the noise.

He finally came into a clearing where two figures stood facing each other.

The taller one huffed and wheezed, hands covered in an earth jutsu like gloves of stone, and face dripping sweat and blood. The last brother of the trio.

The other figure had a white cloak, white mask and silver hair, standing just as tired as his enemy. Gai couldn’t exactly recall to what village the porcelain dog mask belonged to, but he quickly decided which one to target.

The last brother started bring his fists up, preparing to engage again, the other man responding by shifting his tired stance. Gai moved while they were still distracted, jumping into the air and kicking forwards with all his momentum, yelling with all his passion.

“DYNAMIC ENTRY!” Both enemies startled as suddenly Gai burst into the freight, but the missing nin couldn’t react in time, getting hit straight on, and knocked down instantly. 

That was the older brother, fiercest of the three, an at least A rank on the bingo book.

Covered head to toe in bruises.

Gai whooped in victory, smiling widely. He showed a thumbs up to the only other one left standing.

“Good job fighting these unlawful shinobi! I have taken care of everything now!” He declared proudly, though still weary of the man.

The boy, he realized.

He was hunched over with a hand clutching his midsection, but now Gai was sure the boy couldn’t be taller than him.

No taller than him and already a member of the special forces.

He seemed even more weary of Gai than Gai was of him.

He started straightening up, and Gai could see an ugly spot of red staining through the cape. He held back a cringe at the sight. But the boy held his stance, held Gai’s stare, and hadn’t he been breathing so heavily, Gai would think he was just a statue standing in a field.

A scarecrow maybe.

“I am Maito Gai! The noble blue beast of Iwa!” He introduced himself, because the silence was starting to unnerve him, and because maybe he had misjudged the boy’s intentions.

“Move along…” the boy coughed out quickly between breaths, slightly startly Gai. “I have no business with you… so don’t make me fight you.” 

“Uh, yes… no!” He shook his head, distracted. “I mean! Worry not! You clearly need your rest after such an arduous fight! I wouldn’t unfairly put you down after your brave effort in pursuit of… justice!” He gave another thumbs up just for good measure, fumbling through his words at the brief moment of attention directed at him from such a peculiar shinobi.

The kid huffed.

“You’re confident huh… clearly don’t know who I am…” he muttered, still holding his ground.

“Of course! I am very good! I have downed two out of our three shared foes!”

That caught his attention. The boy tensed slightly, staring Gai down.

“Two?”

“Yes!” Gai exclaimed. “The other one was running away when I intercepted him.”

“Where?”

“A little ways that direction.” Gai pointed and the boy started to move, keeping a safe distance from Gai, and not once turning his back to him. “Wait, where are you going?”

There was no answer.

“Hey, you shouldn’t be moving!” He cautioned, worried. Gai had seen enough people walking with injuries during the war. Had known how pushing your body just too far could have severe consequences. Gai took a step forward and the boy growled.

“Stop following me or I’ll kill you next.”

“I just said I can take you!”

The boy suddenly grunted, clutching his midsection again and falling to his knees.

Gai approached and the boy’s head instantly snapped to his direction, so Gai stood back.

“Just one.” He said with clenched teeth.

“Huh?” Gai cocked his head, furrowing his brows.

“You took just one out. I got the other and you stole my victory on the last one. That doesn’t make you that good.” The boy had the audacity to say.

“Hey! You clearly were at a stalemate with the last foe! My intervention was definitive for the outcome! I get at least half the credit!”

“One and a half still doesn’t make you better.” He grunted as he tried and failed to stand up on his own.

“But I could definitely prove it!” Gai pointed at him.

He was ignored.

He heard the boy mutter something close to “pug” before starting to ruffle under his cloak for something. And then a thought came to Gai.

“Are you looking for a scroll?”

The boy stopped moving.

“I have it.” And he shuffled around and reached for the scroll inside his basket, pulling it out and presenting it to the boy.

He could see him stiffen, hands moving oh so slowly closer to his weapons pouch. Gaze fixed on Gai.

He could feel tension building up.

Gai felt a chill crawl down his spine. The crouched figure ahead of him felt like a hungry wolf, with red on its teeth and red on its eyes. Ears leaning back and hair standing up with a growl. Staring Gai down until all Gai could see was the red eye. Gai shook his head, focusing on his feet on the ground, his body burning from his exercise.

The red eye still stared him down, tugging at something in his mind.

Then the boy grunted, hand clutching for the mask and it was gone.

Gai was dumbstruck for a moment. Watching the boy try to fight whatever pain afflicted him.

He was snapped back to reality and he instead stared down a boy in a mask drenched in his own blood fight for his air.

Gai carefully placed the scroll by his feet, taking a step back.

The boy flickered his head to watch him.

They stood in silence.

“What do you want?” The boy asked. Startling Gai once more.

“Huh?”

“What are you trying to get from this?” 

“Me? I…” Gai didn’t know exactly how to answer something that was so simple to him.

“Nothing. You were fighting cruel men, and I find that admirable, so I wanted to help.”

“We’re enemies.”

“We’re not at war anymore.” He huffed.

“Your people have hurt mine, and mine yours.” He spat.

Gai knew it. War was awful, war took away many of his classmates, took strong and kind shinobi. It took his dad. But those people were gone, and it was now Gai’s job to push forwards, be strong, and make sure no one else had to go through something like that again.

At least that’s what he believed.

“I’m not my people. I’m me, and you are you. And even though you’re rude, you haven’t hurt me, or anyone precious to me, so I don’t care!” 

“You don’t know me.” Was the curt reply. But surprisingly, made with not as much bite as his last one. He couldn’t really tell with the mask on, but it sounded sadder.

“Maybe. But you don’t know me either!” And then something sparked in Gai’s heart. “So let’s make a deal! I feel you are very strong, and I can feel your fighting spirit even now that you struggle to stand.” Gai could almost feel the offense taken but continued nonetheless. “And since you claim to be so strong, I wish to fight you. A fair fight to test who’s strongest! A challenge!! Then I’ll show you who I really am!”

There was a long stretch of silence. Gai held his grin and the boy remained still.

A long stretch of silence.

“I don’t know if you’re mad or stupid.”

“You’re scared!” Gai shot back.

“You’re what? Chuunin? What makes you think you could beat me?”

“I won’t be for long-“ Gai was interrupted by “because you’ll be dead” but pushed on through his sentence louder. “And you’ll start feeling very sorry once you’re eating my dirt! So be prepared, because next time we meet Maito Gai will be known everywhere! Uh…” he faltered. “What’s your name?”

“Figure it out yourself.”

Gai gasped.

“Okay! My mysterious rival. Next time we meet my name will be known! And I will know yours too! So be prepared.”

The boy huffed in amusement, and finally grabbed the scroll, slowly getting up to his feet.

He stared Gai down.

“You can dream of it.” And puffed out of existence in a shuushin.

Gai huffed back, blood boiling. He meant it all, even if his rival didn’t take him too seriously. Not a lot of people did, and that never got Gai down. He set out to finish his mission with renewed ardor, and when he reported back to the village he also reported the three Uchiyama brothers defeat. And, after a lot of researching, when he found out his rival was Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan, his determination burned even brighter.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi finds a familiar face

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey! Heres another chapter! I wanna turn this into a 5 chapter story cause 5 seems to be a magical number in ao3 but i havent actually planned 5 chapters, so lets see how it goes!

Kakashi made his way through the suna border in a solemn kind of silence.

It’d take a day more of travel before he reached his target, a missing nin hiding with his followers somewhere between Suna and Iwa. 

Kakashi wasn’t really in a hurry, he knew what to expect and he knew what to do, having himself pick this mission carefully. It was a job well done if he succeeded, and an unfortunate shame if he didn’t. And he dashed through trees thinking exactly about that. 

He was nineteen and had done his fair part for the good of the village. He had lost almost all he had for the village too, and for the past years his body just collected an exhaustion that kept pulling on his bones, and drowning his mind and he started to forget what life was besides that.

And everything started feeling strangely dull, too stagnant to be a nightmare, too painful to be a dream.

He didn’t want to put anyone else in risk because of his own Lack of attachment to life, so he traveled alone with his dog mask and the light of the moon. And he tried to tell himself this was different from what his dad had done in many, many ways.

He didn’t realize how caught up in his own foggy mind he was until his instincts suddenly blared, and his body moved before his mind could process what was happening.

A wild kick passed above his head and Kakashi darted to another branch to defend himself on pure instinct.

A man landed on a branch ahead of him. Black hair in a bowl cut, green jumpsuit and brown vest, stance ready and voice booming.

“No one attacks the mighty blue beast in his own camp!”

And it all suddenly came to him, past his mind fog.

A boy jumping into the last second. An act of kindness. A promise.

Kakashi stared dumbfounded as it all came back to him.

The man stared him down too, brows furrowing as he looked Kakashi up and down, and then eyebrows raising up as it all clicked for him too.

“Aha! We meet again my mysterious rival!” He offered a sparkly grin and a thumbs up.

Maito Gai, the noble blue beast of Iwa.

The first time they met, Kakashi had taken the scroll off the floor and run away, quickly wrapping his wounds only to collapse of chakra exhaustion in a cave nearby. It took him days to properly move out back to fire country, having to drag himself half the way back with little food and water and several injuries.

He had found it all ridiculous, the teathrics the boy pulled, the self confidence, the good act for an enemy. He had slotted the boy as a fool in his mind and tried to forget him. But one day he spotted his name in the bingo book and realized he didn’t forget it at all.

Kakashi stared at his grin and felt like he lost a point already.

Gai pointed at him.

“It has been a long time, but I have trained arduously and kept my promise! Hatake Kakashi!” He announced the name proudly.

Kakashi himself had never been good at promises, always shattering them in unforgivable ways. Hadn’t seen someone look so eager to see him in a long time.

He thought maybe he really was in a very weird dream.

“Uhm… yeah… what was your name again?”

That struck a chord, Gai wavering in his pose.

“That’s okay, I’m not good with faces myself.” He recovered, clearing his throat. “I’m Maito Gai, your eternal rival!”

Kakashi had no trouble with faces, and Gai himself, even if he had filled his body with muscle during puberty into a fine man, was a very recognizable individual, so forgetting his face was a hard task. But Kakashi wasn’t going to let him have that.

Also, when did “eternal” come into this?

“So fate brought us together again!” He tried to nudge Kakashi into a conversation. He took the bite.

“Fate?”

“Yes! Fate! Our fated challenge! Me against you! Winner takes the point.”

“A fight?”

“Yes. Well, I’m sure there are many other challenges two men like us could come up with, but my blood is boiling for a fight against you right now!”

Kakashi was sure there was an inappropriate joke he could make there, but his brain was still too slow to come up with anything smart. His heart though seemed to come alive for a second, already sensing a fight.

He should leave. 

He didn’t know why but he was sure that was what he was supposed to do.

But he stood there, looking at Gai. 

Maybe he wanted something. Pain, adrenaline,  _ anything  _ to give a reason for his heart to beat wildly without invoking an image of wide brown eyes and red.

He sighed.

“Okay.”

Gai seemed giddy at that.

“First one to yield loses.” He announced with a smirk and Kakashi nodded.

“Whenever you’re ready.” He almost shrugged, body moving into a defensive stance.

They stood still staring at each other.

And Gai moved.

Kakashi brought his arms up just in time to stop the kick that Gai made for his head. The impact sent a jolt through Kakashi’s arms, throwing him off the branch he was standing on. Kakashi flipped in the air, landing sideways against a trunk and quickly raised his head to keep his eye on his enemy,

Gai was already on the move again.

Kakashi shifted his body to the side and Gai’s fist tore through the bark of the wood. Kakashi didn’t even flinch at the clear image that came to his mind of his head being there instead.

Kakashi dropped off the tree, fingers hooking on three shuriken. He flicked his arm up and sent them flying, and while Gai was distracted dodging, Kakashi swung around the tree, making a shadow clone and stopping his momentum, letting the clone continue his trajectory to continue the fight.

Kakashi suppressed his chakra and waited for a moment before carefully climbing back up so he’d have a clear vision of the fight.

Gai was fast, really fast. Kakashi watched his clone summon earth and spit wind at Gai, but the man dodged through it all, storming through like the elements were just extensions of his path.

Curiously enough, Gai didn’t try doing any ninjutsu or genjutsu.

What kind of shinobi made it that far without ninjutsu or genjutsu?

Kakashi kept watching anyway, taking mental notes of any possible openings, and dropped down to the floor. Then, with a hand seal, he dropped even further, going beneath the earth and positioning himself.

His clone puffed out of existence with a painful set of punches and Kakashi was informed of Gai’s position. He reached up and grabbed Gai’s ankle, dragging him down into the earth. He then popped out himself, crouching down to give Gai a bored glare.

Gai had put up a good fight with his taijutsu, but it wasn’t enough. So Kakashi’s eyes dulled out anyway.

“Why’d you hype yourself up so much just to end up like that?” He asked monotonously.

“Don’t think I’m done yet, rival! I’ve barely started!” Gai declared.

Kakashi felt something burn hot over his body, and then he quickly shuffled back as the earth burst out and Gai came out of the ground roaring.

His hair stood up and his skin swelled in red as Gai seemed to emanate a heat of his own, almost shining like the sun.

Kakashi stared in awe, both eyes wide open and he saw how Gai’s chakra swirled widely as the first two gates were open.

And worst of all,

Gai was smiling at him.

A genuine expression of pride maybe, Kakashi didn’t have much time to look at it. Between a blink of his eye and the next, Gai was in his personal space again, and Kakashi had to run.

With every kick, every punch that Kakashi dodged, the air would woosh by him burning hot, making sweat collect on Kakashi’s skin, and he started to realize that  _ he was losing _ . Kakashi could not beat Gai in hand to hand combat, a single hit and he’d be seriously injured. Kakashi had to work outside that range, but putting distance between them was proving to be a hard task. It was only thanks to the sharingan that Kakashi could even see Gai move properly.

Kakashi’s mind was finally in the moment.

He focused his eyes onto Gai’s, staring straight at him.

Gai suddenly stopped moving, eyebrows up in surprise and jaw slack.

He caught him in a genjutsu.

Kakashi took a second to catch his breath, inhaling deeply.

He didn’t even have time to exhale and Gai moved again. So Kakashi caught his eyes again, and Gai stopped moving again.

And then he shook his head, turning it away from his face.

“Ah! I see what you’re doing! So that’s the sharingan!” Gai exclaimed with a broad smile. “I wonder if it can still get me if I don’t look into it then!”

Kakashi flashed through hand seals, focusing his lightning chakra into shape and dashed back.

He watched in a bit of awe as Gai continued fighting him while keeping his eyes focused only on Kakashi’s feet. It wasn’t at all what he expected of that kid he met years ago on a failing mission, with bruised, dirty hands and words too big.

Watched as Gai broke through Kakashi’s defenses, kicking him up into the air. 

No, Gai had backed up all those dumb claims with actual strength.

Gai was a dangerous enemy.

Kakashi watched as Gai punched and his fist went through Kakashi’s midriff, startling Gai for a second before the lightning clone exploded, electricity locking Gai’s muscles in place and rendering him unable to move.

Kakashi’ own hand sparkled with crackles of lightning, he ran out of his hiding spot, darting towards Gai.

He wouldn’t move fast enough.

He turned around surprised, watching Kakashi approach.

Kakashi stuttered.

His heart suddenly skipped a bit, and his arm burned as his raikiri wavered and went wry, losing shape and power as Kakashi tried to stop his own momentum. 

His palm slammed first into Gai’s chest, electricity dissipating from his arm to Gai’s entire body, traveling down to the floor. Then his whole body collided with Gai’s, sending him flying into the ground, and making Kakashi land on top.

Gai was warmer than a person should be and slightly fizzling, but his skin had gone back to normal, and Kakashi could see the gates were now closed once again.

He could feel Gai’s heart beating under his right palm, his hand still firmly planted on his chest.

And he could feel his own beating even harder in what was almost hysteria.

Gai grunted, teeth clenched.

“Ow…I yield.” was all he managed to get out, as he forced his body to relax from the painfully tense position his limbs had locked in.

Kakashi should kill him.

“A-as… as expected… from my rival… hah” Gai forced his mouth to move, curling his lips into a big, wobbly smile.

_ Why _ was he smiling?

Kakashi’s heart kept hammering on his chest and he couldn’t place exactly what was causing it to do so. But Kakashi was suddenly so aware of himself, the noise of his breathing, the smell of his sweat, the painful burn of his wounds, the heat emanating off Gai, the smile he was giving him.

For once, in a long time, Kakashi felt like he had truly woken up.

“Uh… can you move though? It kind of hurts.” Gai said, and Kakashi became also very aware that he had been straddling Gai in complete silence for what must have been a few awkward seconds, so he got up.

Gai grunted as he pushed himself into a sitting position.

“You clearly live up to your reputation! I see my rival has also trained hard during those years!”

Gai shuffled to his feet, dusting mud out of his pants and sending a thumbs up.

The buzzing feeling in his hands slowly started dying down, and his heart finally began to slow down ro a regular heartbeat.

“Of course! That’s what a rivalry is! We push ourselves to be the best we can be, and challenge each other into surpassing even that!” He declared, beckoning Kakashi to follow him as he started to walk.

Strangely, Kakashi did follow.

Gai led him around, dusting the fizzling smoke out of the front of his vest (that now was a bit singed) and stretching his limbs. They stopped at a small camp and Gai sat down, offering a spot for Kakashi.

Kakashi sat down.

“That was invigorating, wasn’t it? I myself always enjoy a good spar when I need to focus, stirring the flames of youth within one's heart!” He clenched his fists, trembling with  _ something _ in front of the small fire that was left lit. Kakashi kept watching as he turned around and lifted something from the floor, placing it over the fire and opening the lid to stir.

It was curry.

“It’s not much but definitely enough to share. If you had shown up just a bit later you would have missed it! Now that would be a shame.” He talked to him as he continued heating up his food over the fire. Kakashi wasn’t really getting what was going on until Gai pulled out another bowl off his backpack, filled it with curry and extended towards Kakashi.

“Ah, no. It’s fine.” Kakashi awkwardly tried to refuse. He didn’t understand at all Gai’s intentions, what he wanted, why he did it.

“Please take it! You need to recover your energy for your travels after our fight! And I’d be a terrible guest if I didn’t feed you!”

The bowl was shoved into Kakashi’s hand and he fumbled with it, hands warming up against it.

“Guest…” he mumbled.

“Yes! In my camp!” He nodded resolutely.

Kakashi decided that Gai was just a strange person. A strange person with strong fists and a mushy heart probably.

Kakashi sighed.

“I’m not staying.”

Gai hummed, studying him for a second.

“I understand, my rival is a busy person. I wish you good luck on your journey. Don’t slack around! I promise I’ll only get stronger until our next challenge!” He grinned.

“Next challenge? I thought I’d beat you and you’d leave me be.” 

“Why would I do that? You’re my rival! Our rivalry will go on as long as we walk this earth!”

Kakashi tried to pinch his nose for show but ended up grabbing his hound mask instead.

“If you’re gonna keep nagging me you might as well actually beat me.”

“It’s a promise then.” Gai said seriously. “Next time we meet I’ll definitely defeat you! If not, I’ll run 500 laps around the village with a big boulder on my back!”

“Next time…”

“Next time!” He confirmed with a serious nod.

And then a smile.

“Huh… alright then.” 

And Kakashi shushin’d away.

When he was sure he was too far away for Gai to follow, he sat down on a tree branch.

There still was a bowl of hot curry in his hands.

He looked at it, watching the steam flow up and disappear in the atmosphere in a comfortable silence.

The spar did give his mind focus.

“I’m sorry I’ve been so stupid.” Kakashi said to the moon, because no one else was there to hear him. “I’ve been acting without thinking…”

He slowly put his hound mask down, tugging his cloth mask under his chin. He put his hands together, thanking for his meal. He lifted the bowl to his lips and sipped it.

It was hot and thick and when it touched his tongue he swore he could feel more flavours than food should have.

Oh, it was also spicy.

_ Really  _ spicy.

Kakashi, in what just had to be an act of self hatred, flipped the whole thing at once into his mouth, swallowing as quickly as he could to get it over with.

His eyes teared up and he was left fanning his mouth and panting tiny “haah!”s as he tried to cool down his mistake.

Nope. Gai was a mad, deranged man, trying to kill Kakashi with warm food and warm smiles instead of a real fight.

And Kakashi was still making terrible decisions.

Kakashi rested and, in the next morning, completed his mission without any other issues. 

He had a meeting with a rival that he couldn’t miss, afterall.

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mighty blue beast blooms, and Kakashi still has a reputation of course!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The score counting begins!! What a beautiful thing rivalry is!  
> Also im stressed the fuck out which means ill either spit more chapters like my life depends on it all let all my fics die for a bit.

Gai was in a good mood.

He had been travelling with his squadmates for a few days now but they finally were about to reach their destination: a commercial village tucked between the beautiful forests in grass country. 

Gai’s mission was the diplomatic sort. Send your best shinobi to a village, strengthen trade bonds, have a good laugh over sake, wait until all papers are signed and return. 

Gai knew how to give a bright smile and a warm impression, even if it sometimes scared people. That was why he had two chuunin with him anyway, just in case! 

He had to hold himself back not to dash to their destination, only because his squadmates seemed so displeased by the idea, and Gai could not leave them behind in case anything happened to them.

So he took to almost jumping in place as he walked at a fast (but not fast enough) pace, with two sullen teammates behind him.

“Let’s go! Just a little longer! Our destination awaits us!” He tried encouraging them. They were only a year younger than Gai, surely they had the energy needed to finish their travel!

“Gai-san… you’re too much” One of them complained, and Gai elected to ignore that.

“I have faith you can do it! Just push yourselves!”

There were two grunts in reply.

Gai continued walking ahead and stopping for them to catch up for a while.

He opened his mouth to send more encouragement out when something pricked at the back of his head.

He stopped, silent.

There was someone watching them.

“Please wait up, Gai-san.” The other chuunin asked, panting and catching up, stopping by Gai, hands on her knees as she breathed hard.

“Hmm… should you really be working your subordinates into that state?”

The two chuunin suddenly snapped to attention, kunai out as they searched for the voice that had just spoken up.

Gai turned around, glancing up at a tree where the familiar voice sounded from.

Konoha jounin uniform, a slouched pose, a headband over his eye and silver hair poking out from his head.

“Yo.” He waved lazily with two fingers.

It took a second for Gai to recognize the man standing in the shadows of the tree top.

The chuunin behind him tensed in fear, but Gai only smiled broadly.

“Well, if it isn’t Kakashi.” It was different seeing him out of the ANBU uniform. All the times he had seen him, Kakashi seemed to emanate this strange aura, like he’d disappear at any moment, nothing but a mere illusion or impression. A shadow. Like maybe he wasn’t standing there at all, like he wasn’t really alive. The white ANBU mask also never helped. Gai could’ve even fooled himself that twose last two encounters with the man had only been a meeting with a ghost, except that Gai fought Kakashi, and Kakashi was totally different when he fought. 

Kakashi was talented, and smart. He fought with a precision unmatched by any, and Gai couldn’t remember the last time he was worked into a sweat so fast before Kakashi. Kakashi had a fire inside him that had been snuffed out again the instant he had sat down next to Gai by the fire in his camp. It was a fire Gai really wanted to see again.

Kakashi was still a mystery to Gai, and it bothered Gai that he didn’t understand what it was that was happening in Kakashi’s head for some reason. 

Seeing Kakashi standing above him now though… Gai still couldn’t really read him too well, but Kakashi definitely felt different. The way he just leaned against the three bark, the tilt of his head, his relaxed arms. He seemed comfortable. And of course, he now could see his rival’s face! That made reading him just a bit better! Even if, surprisingly for Gai, all that Kakashi’s face showed was just a triangle of skin, with a dark eye half lidded looking back at him, a black cloth mask covering the entire lower half of his face.

It wasn’t much but Gai was giddy knowing that he now knew his rival’s eye color at least. It felt personal for some reason.

“You’re showing a lot more skin than I was expecting!” He mocked Kakashi.

It seemed to cause a very unexpected reaction, when Kakashi suddenly twitched with a “huh?”. 

And the little skin he could see on his face started turning rather pink.

“Uh.. Gai-san.” The girl behind him whispered. “Did you… just call Kakashi of the Sharingan a…”

“We should leave!” The other cut with another whisper. “We can’t fight someone like him.” He let out between clenched teeth, eyes darting between Gai and Kakashi.

Gai laughed, loud and open chested.

“Nonsense! I could take him on easily!” He boomed, looking back at Kakashi, who seemed to recompose himself.

Gai had taken his last defeat in stride, a lesson in humility. He trained even harder then before for the past 2 years, he sought all expert lightning releases users in his village and fought them with success. He trained fighting people without ever looking them in the eyes and he improved his speed even further. 

Gai was ready for another round.

“It looks like I came in at a bad time.” Kakashi said, glancing at the chuunin behind Gai, who seemed to stiffen even more under his glare.

“Nonsense!-” Gai tried, but his chuunin simply dragged at his arms to stop his talking.

Rude!

“That’s fine. I’ll leave you to whatever it is you’re doing. Maybe I’ll stick around for sundown though? Maa, who knows.” He shrugged, glancing at Gai in what was in Gai’s mind a clear invitation.

And disappeared.

“Ahh Kakashi, always playing so cool disappearing like that…” He lamented, huffing.

“Gai-san!” The girl shouted at him “Please be more aware of the danger you’re diving into!” She scolded him. “Do you even know who that was?!”

“Of course! That was my eternal rival, Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan!” He declared proudly.

Both chuunin seemed taken aback, but their expressions showed none of the awe Gai expected, and a lot more dread.

“R-rival? Gai-san, you don’t mean?” The boy started, gulping down. “Just… Just be careful please.” He instructed in a voice so concerned Gai couldn’t help but assure him.

“Don’t worry about me! I can handle myself.” He said with a hearty slap to the boy’s back. “Now back to our mission! We don’t want to leave our clients waiting!”

They met up with their clients and matters were discussed. They were invited for dinner to settle matters properly and sent off to enjoy the rest of their afternoon. Gai checked in at an inn nearby with his team. Gai guessed it’d still be an hour until sundown. 

“Gai-san…” the girl chipped in, and Gai drew his gaze away from the window. “You’re not thinking about going after that man, are you?”

“Of course I am!” 

The same nervous glares returned to the duo’s face.

“Gai-san…”

“Please don’t concern yourselves with it! This rivalry we have has been ongoing for years! We’ve met on more than one occasion-“ just two so far, but they didn’t need to know that. “ and I’ve always walked away a greater man! What we have between us is bigger than any petty fighting!” 

The chuunin’s faces seemed to slowly change from nervousness into confusion. They looked at eachother seeking some kind of confirmation, or explanation. 

“Okay?” The boy looked at Gai baffled.

“Well! If that’s all… let us meet here at dinner time to head for our scheduled meeting! Feel free to put any training in during your free time!” Gai grinned with a thumbs up, drowning the sound of their grunts with his enthusiasm. And he left.

He walked around the village for a while. He couldn’t spot Kakashi nor any other Konoha nin. He was getting the attention of a few civilians though, walking with his green spandex and jounin uniform. He knew that if he’d ask, someone could probably direct him to Kakashi, but he thought he’d rather not start any rumors of Iwa nin chasing down Konoha nin for no reason.

So he walked out the village and started running laps around it to warm up.

At around 5 minutes in he spotted a kunai sticking to a tree, a small note affixed to it. When he approached it, he only saw a henohenomoheji face drawn on the note.

This was probably where Kakashi wanted to meet him then.

It was still too early, so Gai continued his run.

He would pick up speed and slow down periodically, observing the flora around the region and watching the sky as the sun slowly made its way towards the horizon. He’d glance at the tree with the note every time he passed by it just to make sure.

When the sky was painted orange, Gai stopped at the spot and caught his breath.

He waited… and waited… after 5 minutes he decided to do some sit-ups.

And then some push-ups…

And then he started thinking that maybe he got something wrong….

When he was about to run another lap around the village looking for Kakashi, a figure materialized by the marked tree.

“Yo!” Kakashi waved lazily again with two fingers only, crossing his arms and leaning against the tree.

“You! You’re late! It’s been several minutes past sundown!” Gai accused with a finger.

Kakashi closed his eyes in what seemed to be a sheepish smile.

“Ehhh, sorry sorry! I uh…” he seemed to start saying something, only to be caught up on it and backpedal. “I got busy.”

Gai huffed.

“Well, I forgive you. After all! It is high time we have another challenge!” He exclaimed in excitement.

“Ah yes… that…” Kakashi scratched the back of his head, taking a few steps away from the tree. “I have to meet up with my teammates soon, and they’ll skin me alive if they find out I have been in a fight. So I guess we will have to postpone our challenge.”

“What? No!” Gai was devastated! “This a meeting of fate! We can’t just leave without a challenge.”

“You really are into this thing, aren’t you?” Kakashi sounded exasperated for some reason. What else was he expecting?

“Of course! And I promised I’d defeat you this round!”

They both stood in silence for a moment, Gai thinking hard and Kakashi kicking the air, staring down at his own feet.

Gai pipped up.

“I probably shouldn’t show up bruised to dinner, so how about we do some wrestling instead?”

“Doesn’t that count as a fight?” Kakashi asked, amused.

“Objective is to make the other touch anything that isn’t their feet on the floor. No aiming for the face and no using chakra to stick to the floor. Best out of three.”

“Hmmm…” Kakashi pondered for a bit, looking Gai up and down. 

Gai also checked him out. Kakashi never seemed to stand to his full height properly, leaning on one leg or the other and slouching. He had a calculated calm air around him and still seemed pretty carefree.

A layer deeper, Kakashi also seemed tired. Not the kind of tired where you’d lose your breath and get red in the face from effort. The one where’d your eyes would fall heavy, accentuated by dark eyebags and nights without sleep.

“Okay.” He finally answered. Gai pumped a fist in the air. 

“Alright then!” And he started taking his vest off.

“What… are you doing?” He asked, staring Gai, frozen in place.

“Taking my vest off! It has a lot of parts you can grab onto!” He explained, and something appeared to click in Kakashi’s mind.

“Ah… I see…” He then slowly proceeded to take off his own vest.

They stood in front of each other, only an arms length apart, stance ready. Kakashi was wearing the standard konoha jounin uniform, meaning he had a pair of dark blue pants and shirt on. Gai, on the other hand, wore a sleek and aerodynamic one piece spandex suit. He knew it would be much easier for him to grab Kakahi’s clothes than the other way around. Kakashi also had one eye still covered with his headband, which seemed like an unfair advantage towards Gai, but he didn’t move to take it off, so Gai let it be.

“Are you calling it?” Kakashi almost slurred.

Gai huffed.

“Ready…”

Gai also had a few centimeters over Kakashi, which was a victory in his mind, but that probably wouldn’t mean much in this challenge.

“Go!” He shouted, and they both went to grab at each other. 

Gai managed to get a hold of Kakashi’s midriff. But when he made it to push him down, he seemed to have terribly miscalculated just where Kakashi’s center of mass was, and his rival held strong, and with his hands on Gai’s arms, he shifted his body back, keeping Gai’s momentum going. He sweeped a leg under Gai’s and Gai was thrown behind Kakashi, landing on his knees and then chest.

“Hm… that’s one point for me… again.” 

What a cheeky bastard.

“Don’t sing victory so soon!”

Gai got up and dusted his knee, a smile stuck to his determined face. Gai didn’t get where he was by giving up whenever he hit the ground, no.

If anything, Gai would get back up as many times as it took to finally succeed.

His smile burned.

He took his position in front of Kakashi again.

He stared into Kakashi’s eye. He could see that flame of youth burning within.

“Go!” He called again.

Lesson learned, Gai was much more careful with where to push.

He dodged Kakashi's hand, as he aimed to grab his shoulder, deflecting the offending arm away from him. And before Kakashi could draw it back, Gai hooked a hand under Kakashi’s knee, tugging it away.

Kakashi did try to keep his balance, but Gai bumped his hip into his torso, and even though Kakahi made a valiant effort to hold onto Gai’s arm, he still landed on his butt.

“How’s victory looking from the floor, rival?” Gai taunted with a grin.

“Now who’s singing victory?” Gai pulled Kakashi up, a tight grip on his forearm. Kakashi got to his feet, body warm and close to Gai’s. He tapped Gai’s arm gently with his other hand and both of them let go to position themselves properly once again.

“Go!”

The third match lasted longer. Both men started being much more careful in their defenses, quickly dodging any attempts from the other to get a hold of them, arms deflecting and feet dancing around each other.

There were at least two times where Gai managed to get a hold of one of Kakashi’s arms, but he twisted away before Gai could drag him off balance. Kakashi also almost managed to kick his legs from beneath him, but he managed to jump over it just in time.

Kakashi favored his right leg more than his left, which was used much more for support than for offense. It probably had something to do with Kakashi’s blind spot.

So Gai took full advantage of that.

The next time Kakashi tried for a kick, Gai quickly moved towards Kakashi’s blind side, reaching a hand up. Kakashi raised his arm out of reach, accidentally covering even more of his field of view. And Gai used that small window frame to do a sweeping kick on Kakashi’s left leg.

Kakashi stumbled but didn’t regain his balance, landing on his side with an oof.

“Aha! That’s another one for me!” 

Kakashi got off the floor dusting his pants with a humm.

No matter how bored Kakashi looked, he was also desperate for a win.

Kakashi also learned from his mistakes and refused to let Gai come close to his left side, constantly twisting out of reach whenever Gai got too close, and Gai was afraid that if he kept missing like that, Kakashi was bound to find an opening in his offense.

So an idea came to his mind.

Gai lowered himself and Kakashi followed suit, knowing that with his lower center of mass, Gai couldn’t get him down easier without falling first. But he must not have expected Gai to go for it anyway. Gai put a hand on Kakashi’s hip and saw how Kakashi prepared to deflect the same way he had on their first round. But this time, instead of pushing, Gai pulled Kakashi’s body flush against him, his face against Kakashi’s stomach, one hand snaking around his waist and the other around his thigh.

He felt Kakashi sharply breath in, hands slapping against Gai’s back and holding tight.

And then Gai twisted to the side and threw himself on the floor. 

He and Kakashi must have landed at the same time, but he kept going until he rolled into a position where he laid on top of Kakashi on the floor.

“I win!” He declared with an out of breath laugh.

Kakashi’s eyebrow was stuck high in his face, which was flushed red with what had to be the effort of their fight, and hands near his head.

Gai could feel Kakashi’s heart beating as fast as his own.

Kakashi cleared his throat.

“You touched the floor too.”

Gai put an elbow on the floor, leaning his chin on his hand and off Kakashi’s stomach.

“You touched it first.”

Kakashi gave him a deadpan glare.

“And even so! That still puts me at 3 points against 2 from you! Still a victory! Just like I told you last time!” He beamed, using his free hand for a thumbs up.

Kakashi’s expression shifted then, dying down until it showed nothing.

“You promised yourself…”

“Yes! I did!”

Kakashi didn’t seem annoyed at him for it, nor proud. He didn’t seem to think anything of it really, with the distant stare he had on his face, but Gai had a feeling that whatever it was he was feeling wasn't good. He shifted a bit against Kakashi, thinking on what to say and Kakashi’s hands twitched, eyes darting back to Gai.

Attention gained once again.

“Even without the sharingan you prove to be a worthy rival.”

“Of course, I can’t rely on only one thing all the time.” He said after a second of thinking, eyes carefully trained on Gai. As if he maybe was provoking him.

Gai wasn’t quite sure what.

“You move fast for someone so strong.”

“Thank you! I have trained my body and mind vigorously for that!”

Kakashi seemed amused by his answer for some reason. 

“Yeah… you do favor Taijutsu, don’t you?”

And then it clicked what it was Kakashi was trying to get from him.

“Yes. I’ve never really been that good at ninjutsu or genjutsu. And even though I have proficiency in many weapons, I heavily favor taijutsu over anything else. But do not worry, I am  _ very _ good at it! It’s very hard to defeat me even with a full arsenal of jutsu! And I’m certain no one can beat me in taijutsu.”

“There you go, being all full of yourself again.”

“I did just beat you.”

Kakashi just hummed non-commitantly.

“That puts our rivalry score at a tie.” Gai reminded him.

“We have a score?”

“Yes!” Gai planted his hands on the floor, lifting his upper body off Kakashi. “How else would we keep track of who’s winning?”

“That implies we’ll have more “challenges”” 

“We will have!” Gai finally got off Kakashi properly, needing his hands free to motion around. Kakashi sat up with a grunt, very unbecoming of a man so young. “We’ve met so little and yet every time I see you I learn so much! I told you! Rivalry is about encouraging self improvement! About fanning the passionate flames of youth!”

“Okay, if we’re learning then tell me something.” Kakashi adjusted his position, facing Gai more properly, even in his slouched manner of sitting, a leg sprawled out, the other bent. “Tell me about the gates.”

“The gates?” Gai asked, curious about the choice of topic.

“The first time we fought, you opened them, didn’t you? Tell me how you do it.”

Gai looked into Kakashi’s face, searching for something in that impassive expression of his. 

He couldn’t find anything, so he started thinking.

Gai had researched the sharingan as much as he could. He learned one could cast powerful genjutsu with only eye contact (and he had experienced that first hand!), it could copy any jutsu seen by its user and could read chakra pathways. So Kakashi must have seen what the gates look like opened when they last fought. And, taking into account how Kakashi was actually asking him about it, it seemed Kakashi couldn’t open them like Gai, or perhaps not as well as Gai. That was understandable, opening the gates put a terrible strain on the user’s body. Without proper training, even if one could open it, he wouldn’t be able to bear the pain.

Gai thought about it, and answered slowly.

“The 8 gates technique is something that was passed down to me by my father, something I’ve been training my body to handle since I was a child.”

“Your father? I don’t think I know of him.”

“I’d be surprised if you did! After all, the only thing he was known as was the eternal genin of Iwa. He was a hard worker, but not once took a mission beyond a C rank.” Something seemed to soften in Kakashi’s posture as Gai spoke, much to Gai’s surprise. “He wasn’t very liked all around until his last moments, when he laid his life to save my team from danger. But he did leave me everything I could have ever asked for.”

Gai banged his chest with a closed fist over the heart.

“A healthy body, a strong heart and a kind lesson about growing strong, not from the glory of battles, but from protecting those you love.”

Kakashi listened to Gai speak in silence, and Gai took a moment to think of his dad fondly once more. 

After a few moments of silence, Kakashi spoke up again.

“I’m sorry about your father… he sounds like a cool guy.”

Gai smiled.

“He was.”

Kakashi stared at his own hand, gripping the grass and pulling it out, like maybe he wanted to get something out too, but wasn’t quite ready to say it. Gai waited patiently anyway.

“How many gates can you open now?” He asked instead.

“All eight of them.”

Kakashi looked at him, judging if that was correct.

“And you achieved that with…?”

“Hard work.”

“Hard work?”

“Yes! Hard work can get you really far!”

“Can it?”

“Yes! And I can prove it to you!” Gai hopped onto his feet, pointing a finger out in Kakashi’s direction. “It’s still early! How about we go for another challenge?”

“Another one so soon?”

“Of course! I challenge you for an accuracy match, Kakashi!”

Kakashi slowly got up, dusting his pants and sticking his hands in his pockets. He looked at the last rays of sun on the horizon and stayed silent for a moment.

“Alright” he replied.

And they competed in who could throw more kunai accurately. Then they did it again with their eyes closed, and they tried to break down trees with their bare fists, then they had several matches of rock, paper and scissors (Kakashi kept suggesting those. He also suggested a cooking match after insulting Gai’s curry which Gai refused because one: they didn’t have the means to do it then and two: that was so rude! Insulting Gai’s hearty curry, made with love and care!).

Their rivalry scores went up until the moon climbed up the sky and Gai rushed to the dinner from his mission with the deepest apologies spilling out his lips.


End file.
